A Leap of Faith
by JazzM137
Summary: A case is open and shut for the team but it leaves them all at a loose end. Boyd and Grace find a way of coping with thier new found spare time... Rated T just incase my muse decides to play up....
1. Chapter 1

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these lovely characters and if I did things would be going differently in the show...:P**

**RATING: K+ for reference to violence (in this chapter at least)**

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It was a chilly October morning as Eve walked in bearing 5 cups of steaming coffee from the cafe across the road. Boyd grabbed a cardboard container full of scalding hot energy as he swept past Eve on his way to the board.

"Right" he said calling the team to attention, "New case...well, cold case, a woman was found floating in a lake in 1998, which would be what? Ten years ago. Recently this man," Boyd slapped a photo on to the board, "was arrested for murdering a shop keeper, the gun he used..." it was at this point when Spencer jumped in,

"Was the same gun that was used to shoot the woman?"

"Uh huh but James Child has admitted killing the shop keeper but not the woman, therefore..."

"It's our job to investigate and find out who killed her," this time it was Stella who interrupted Boyd. Sensing Boyd's growing displeasure, Grace intervened changing the subject slightly,

"So what do we know about the woman?" Boyd looked down at the file and pulled out another picture. Placing this one a little more carefully on the board Boyd looked at the picture, the woman was laughing, she didn't know she was going to be found two weeks later face down in a pond.

"Jessica Marie Lucas, 23, lived alone, teacher, was found by an early morning jogger in 'Kenwood Bathing Pond', she lived in the Highgate area and taught at Highgate School. PM says that she died between 12 and 3 on Thursday the 20th of August"

"Why was she on Hampstead Heath at midnight?" Spencer was confused; the heath was not the place a young woman would want to be at midnight all alone, unless she wasn't alone.

"Maybe she was killed somewhere else and dumped in the pond..." Grace mused,

"I'll get on to the school and try and find any teachers that knew her" Stella offered

"And I'll get the reports copied and distributed,"

"I'll get my hands on the pathologist's reports,"

"I'll start trying to get a profile on her" the team dispersed, each with their own little task and soon there was only Boyd left standing by himself at the board,

"I'll stand here and watch the rest of you work"

It was approaching lunch time when Boyd found himself gravitating towards Grace's door with unread files in his hands. He had been spending a lot of time in her company and every time it got to saying goodbye he was finding it harder and harder. Looking through the window he saw her quietly working, too busy to be disturbed. Shutting the door to his office Boyd crossed the room and sat down on his chair. He made two false starts on reading the files he had brought but couldn't stop thinking about Grace, grabbing the phone he dialled her number.

Grace was currently flicking through various files, absentmindedly pretending to be reading, while her mind was preoccupied with other matters. Reaching out for her phone Grace's hand just brushed the plastic as it started to ring, without looking at the caller id Grace answered,

"Hello Dr. Grace Foley" the voice that replied was familiar and totally welcome,

"Surely you should be doing some work..."

"Says he who phones me up from across the hall for no reason..." Grace was smiling broadly as she pretended to be offended,

"I do have a reason for phoning you, I was wondering if you wanted to get some lunch,"

"So you actually function normally during a case then? You don't just get grumpy and storm around?" Grace knew she was pushing her luck, but that made it fun,

"Hey if you don't want to go to lunch you just have to say...don't have to be mean..."

"Well... I am kinda hungry and I suppose eating with you is just as good as eating on my own..." this pushed it a little too far, even taking into consideration Peter's extra tolerance towards Grace.

"Fine then! Eat on your own!" With that he hung up leaving Grace sitting in her adjacent office her ear pressed to a dead line."


	2. Chapter 2

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these lovely characters and if I did things would be going differently in the show...:P**

**RATING: T for Language (in this chapter at least)**

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Later on that afternoon Spencer had gone out to try and find anyone who knew Jessica, Stella was cooped up in an AV room somewhere trawling through CCTV footage, Eve had locked herself in the lab doing various tests and Grace was approaching Boyd's office door with a bottle of red and two glasses.

"Come in" Peter answered when Grace knocked gently on the door. Walking to his desk she lay down her little picnic and said,

"Liquid Lunch" She then started to decant the crimson liquid into two rather large glasses.

"Grace…In case you didn't realise, I'm still on duty…" Peter didn't say it with as much tact as he could have and so he came across as just plain ungrateful.

"Of course…should have known" Grace collected up her peace offering and walked out.

"Grace!" Boyd called after her "Grace!...Oh fuck!" recently every time he'd come in contact with Grace something would go wrong, he'd offend her or ignore her and he was trying to scrutinize the reasons for his simply adolescent behaviour. After thinking long and hard about it he had come to the only conclusion that he could think of, maybe they just weren't as good friends anymore, maybe he'd have to think again. Snatching the phone from its cradle he dialled a familiar number.

Grace sat at her desk flicking through the various files, trying to calm down. She had no idea why she cared so much, so what Boyd had declined a drink, would she feel this way if Spencer or Eve had done the same thing? She thought not. Maybe she was in denial, maybe there were feelings for Boyd that hid under the surface of their generally amicable friendship. Just as she was about to pick up the phone to talk to Boyd she looked through her office window and saw that Boyd was already on the phone. Consoling herself that it had waited all these years and that it could wait another hour she started to try and do some work.

Spencer walked into the quiet office and looked around, he could see Grace and Boyd working away in their offices and he knew that the other two were busy following their different routes of investigation. Sitting down at his desk he leaned back and put his feet on the desk exhaling loudly and closing his eyes.

"Feet down Spencer!" The DI jumped at the sound of Boyd's loud booming voice. "What have you got for us?"

"Well all the teachers at the school at the time have either died or moved on. All except one and she said pretty much the same thing as she said to the original investigation. Jessica was single, lived alone etc."

"Did she have any idea why she was on the Heath at midnight?"

"She assumed that she was walking her dog…" Spencer racked his memory for the name, "Felicity"

"She had a dog? Why didn't we already know this?"

"It is in those files I put on your desk earlier on today…"

"Oh of course…must have missed that page" Boyd didn't want Spencer to know that he'd spent almost all day just thinking about Grace. Befroe Spence could question his bosses lack of information Stella came rushing in

"I've got it! Come see!" and with that she rushed back off to the AV room

"Spencer go get Eve, I'll go get Grace" Boyd delegated

As all five of them stood crowded around the screen Stella pointed out Jessica, and not long after a very distinctive character following her. Pausing the tape she turned round to look at each of the team.

"Look! Can't you see who it is?" The team looked at her with blank faces, "Well I thought you might not be able to see him properly so I got the picture blown up and cleaned up." Stella handed out the pictures. It was a second before anyone said anything but then Grace had to say it.

"It's James Child." Boyd hadn't even looked at the picture.

"How come the original investigation didn't look at the CCTV footage?" Boyd was slowly getting annoyed by the incompetence of the original investigation and Grace could tell.

"Well maybe they did but couldn't identify the man from the picture and they didn't have the technology to clean up the picture." Grace had pulled a wild suggestion from the air.

"That _is_ what happened. That's why I started to look at the CCTV footage…have you two even looked through the reports?"


	3. Chapter 3

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these lovely characters and if I did things would be going differently in the show...:P**

**RATING: K+ for reference to violence (in this chapter at least)**

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It was now Boyd's turn to be loitering around the door with a peace offering of sorts and he really hoped that Grace had forgiven him for his 'faux pas' earlier that day. Knocking lightly on the door he didn't wait for a reply but opened the door into Grace's homely office. She had not been able to escape the cliché of the psychologists chair completely for along one of the walls sat a rather comfortable sofa, perfect for lounging about on when she was reading. Looking up from her desk she saw Boyd enter an infrequent smile adorning his usually stern countenance

"Grace…" This apologising lark was new to Boyd and he hoped he didn't mess it up. "Grace I'm sorry. Sorry for being such an arse, just generally." Grace on the other hand had fewer issues apologising,

"I'm sorry too Boyd, I shouldn't have teased you and I shouldn't have 'flounced' off earlier"

"Well it's both of our faults…but to make it up I've reserved us a table for dinner at 8…if that's ok that is…" Grace's mind tried to find the response that Boyd was expecting; she didn't want to seem as excited as she was feeling, but she definitely didn't want to appear dismissive.

"Sure that'd be lovely." Grace showed him a genuine smile, a little indicator to tell him he had done the right thing.

"I'll pick you up at 7.30 then?" Boyd's spirits were soaring; he was amazed by how her accepting his invitation had made him feel.

"Perfect." Just as Boyd was going to say something more there was a knock on the door, and Spencer stuck his head in,

"Boss, Child is here now."

"Put him in interview room one and Spence I'd like you to observe, Grace is going to sit in on this one."

"Will do." Spencer left the office and made his way to the interview room with two other policemen and their charge in tow. Sitting behind the one-way mirror he watched James Child's movements carefully.

"Interview commences at 17:34. Persons present DSI Boyd, Dr. Foley." Boyd looked over at the man across the table. "Can you state your name for the record please?"

"James William Child"

"Mr Child, do you know why you're here today?" Grace's question was met by a sullen silence. "Mr. Child we are investigating the murder of a teacher ten years ago." Even though Boyd was mindful that they had only just reconciled, he couldn't be doing with this softly softly approach.

"Mr Child we have amassed concrete evidence that you killed the teacher Jessica Lucas on the 20th August 1998. What do you have to say to that?"

"It weren't me! I told them other coppers that! You must have the wrong person!" James was gesturing wildly with his cuffed hands.

"Mr Child could you calm down please." Boyd paused as he flicked through the folder he had brought in with him. "What do you think of these pictures then?" Boyd carefully placed a couple of the grainy CCTV shots that just showed someone waving a gun around.

"That could be anyone!"

"Ten years ago we didn't have the technology to clean these pictures up…but now we can do that quite successfully." Boyd placed the enhanced photos on the table on top of the others.

"Mr. Child" Grace said in her 'therapist' voice, "I think that it's best if you start to cooperate, it could make this whole process a lot easier." She failed to mention who for but James seemed to consider it.

"She was this bird I met a couple of times,"

"Well how did she go from being 'this bird you met a couple of times' to the woman you shot on Hampstead Heath?" Grace placed her hand on Boyd's arm as a warning. Boyd was angry and if he continued to rush in all guns blazing, James would simply clam up.

"Carry on Mr Child." Grace's voice was soothing and spurred the handcuffed man on. Child spoke directly to Grace, trying his best to ignore Boyd completely.

"Well we'd been…you know… for a while when she found out about the skag…she stopped seeing me and then she…well…she…well I saw her with this other bloke…"

"So you waited 'til she was alone and you shot her? If you couldn't have her nobody could?"

"Nah, Nah it weren't like that! I was trying to go clean but she wern't givin me a chance, this guy was a right tosser! He was a complete toff! I mean I wanted to talk to her but she wouldn't listen, she just kept ignoring my calls…so I had to wait 'til I could see her and I did…and…and…" With that James Child broke down into tears, "I killed her, I didn't mean it…I really didn't mean it… but I killed her!"

"Interview terminated at 17.51" Boyd left the crumpled heap of a man crying on the table, as he brushed past Grace and left the room. Collecting the pictures up Grace followed him out of the room.

"Why did you stop me Grace?"

"I didn't want you to overwhelm him…"

"Overwhelm him?! He murdered a woman because she saw him for the junkie scum he is!"

"Guys! Guys!" Spencer butted in not wanting to be a witness to an argument, "All that matters is that we got a result, yeah? A result that we came to because of both of you ok?" he felt like he was talking to two small children.

"You're right Spence, sorry for going off on one there. You go home yeah…I'll tell the others they can wrap up for the night."

"Sure…I'll see you at seven-thirty" Grace left the room to collect her things and go home while Boyd and Spencer stayed looking at the still sniffling prisoner.

"So boss…what's happening at seven-thirty then?"


	4. Chapter 4

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**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these lovely characters and if I did things would be going differently in the show...:P**

**RATING: K+ for reference to violence (in this chapter at least)**

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Grace's heart was racing as she preened in front of the mirror, questions raced through her mind, 'Does Boyd mean anything by this 'date'?' even in her mind the word 'date' had quotation marks around it, 'Do I want Boyd to think anything of this 'date'? Am I overdressed? Where are we going? Do I want to take things further with Boyd?'.

Boyd, standing about 4 metres away from Grace on the other side of the front door had his own questions running through his mind, 'Will she guess what I want to tell her? Should I tell her? Will she laugh?' but he knew he wouldn't get any answers until he told her everything he needed to say. Taking a deep breath in, he knocked on the door and waited.

As she heard the loud knock resounding down the hall she couldn't help but smile at her reflection as she thought of all the possible outcomes of the night. Chastising herself for acting like teenager Grace made her way down the hall to open the door. Her eyes sparkled as she saw the sight before her; Boyd was dressed in a sharp suit with a stripy shirt but there was just something there she couldn't quite put her finger on, something that was most definitely making her pulse quicken just looking at him.

"You ready?" Boyd asked trying to find an opening gambit that didn't involve him looking completely gormless as he took in the sight before him. Grace's short hair was styled elegantly which perfectly complemented the linen suit she had chosen to wear; to Boyd she looked stunning, perfection personified. Grace answered his question and broke him from his appreciation of the presented aesthetics,

"I just need to grab my bag," As she walked back down the hall Boyd got to admire 'the outfit' from a new perspective. Rejoining Boyd on the step Grace pulled the door firmly shut and Boyd ushered her down the steps.

The restaurant was superb, the food divine but the company rated higher than either of them. Grace and Boyd sat, laughed, ate, talked and most of all smiled, anyone who observed them at all that night would have quite happily laid bets on how long they had been together and by the time the dessert arrived both Grace and Boyd were thinking about what it would be like if they were together.

They sat sharing a slice of cheesecake genuinely revelling in the dialogue that was unfolding between them,

"So if you had to choose and I mean _had_ to choose who would it be…"

"Well…" Boyd paused as he thought about his answer, "I guess if I had to choose one of the team to be Prime Minister… I think I'd choose Spencer…Cause at least he'd have laugh sometimes…"

"Well I'd have chosen Stella…cause she would be fair…"

"That's because you took the question seriously, whereas I in my general good humour feel that a good laugh is worth a little tiney winey bit of injustice" To this Grace laughed freely, Boyd smiled openly and steeled his courage to ask a very important question,

"After we've finished this cheesecake," Boyd paused hoping to come across a nonchalant, "Do you want to come back to mine for some coffee?"

"That'd be brilliant." Grace accepted his offer without a second thought, she had been waiting for him to ask all evening.

--

Sitting in the back of the taxi that they had ordered Boyd tried his hardest not to let his imagination run away with him, while Grace sat there letting the imaginary Grace do all sorts of things to Boyd. Minutes later they sat in Boyd's lounge each holding a cup of coffee but desperately wanting to just discard the cup so they could do all the things that they had been longing to do.

"Boyd," Grace said his name as if waiting for some verbal encouragement to continue. Instead of obliging and letting Grace finish her sentence he jumped in.

"Grace. I've been trying to find the best way to say this... Grace, I love you." Boyd didn't know what to expect in response to his revelation but he was glad by the response he did recieve. Grace placed her mug on the floor and eased Boyd's from his hands. Leaning towards him she brought her lips mere centimetres from his and whispered,

"I love you too" as she said that Boyd moved his lips to hers and they connected in a spark of arousal.


End file.
